The nickname "Athari" is a Swahili word for "scar." He named himself after Taka, a lion from the fan fiction Chronicles of the Pride Lands by John Burkitt and David Morris.

For a long time his fursona was a dark-colored lion cub based on Taka, as he felt himself in many ways similar to the character. However, around 2006 he changed his fursona to a snow leopard, as he felt his personality had become too different from the cub's.